The Rock on the floor of the bus
Spring Valley - School bus from UTA filled with 7-9 year old boys in Spring Valley, New York left the School located on Madison Ave (39 South Main Street) at about 12:30 Friday June 15th. One street ahead on Ridge, a group of Black males were gathered and one of them (it turns out it was a 12 year old) threw a big rock which broke a window of the bus and landed onto the head of a seven year old Hasidic boy. The child was rushed into Nyack Hospital; from there he was transferred to the ICU of the Westchester Medical Center where he underwent surgery.
The UTA property was vandalized multiple times in recent months. In the morning of May 23, for example, two drivers noticed that their buses have damage from rocks that were thrown at them. When PD was called, the dispatcher said the two buses should be driven over to the PDHQ if the administration wants a Police Report… This from a Police Department whose jurisdiction is a mere three square miles; and this from a dispatcher whom you think would know that an officer goes to a crime scene; you don’t bring a crime scene to an officer.
Regardless, A Black Female officer from the SVPD arrived to the Friday scene only twenty minutes after the initial call (again despite the fact that their jurisdiction is a mere three square miles). The scene was blocked by buses and EMS vehicles. A car driven by a Black male was caught up in the commotion. Some thought the perp ran into that car. The officer’s concern when arriving was to get the traffic moving again in an area that is not busy by any means. As for the perp, the officer said she cannot do anything about the incident since he is a juvenile.
One of the people on scene asked the officer why she is not trying to learn who the perp is. Another officer who was also on the scene came out of his car saying that no one should tell PD how to do its work. At the same time, the first officer noticed a Hasidic guy recording the event. The officer threatened him with arrest if he does not close his camera; all while a Black Female was – based on people who were there – also recording but was not asked to shut off the camera.
If the lazy and misguided approach from the local PD is not outrageous enough, it gets worse: Representatives from UTA went to PDHQ to talk with the Sergeant that this case should not be pushed under the rug. The Sergeant (was informed about this case sometime before 2:00 PM) welcomed in the delegation into his office at 3:10 saying… the officer left her shift by 3:00 so let’s revisit this Sunday 10:30 AM.
Now, what kind of joke is this to let them wait for forty minutes to give the officer time to leave? Plus, SVPD officers are one of the best paid in New York State. They are not volunteers. If the officer ended her shift ten minutes ago, call her back to answer you why she mishandled this!
Almost a year ago, the SVPD totally ignored the calls from Hasidim that a group of Black teens are throwing water balloons and stones on passing cars during the eve hours, causing one person to almost lose control of his vehicle when a water balloon landed on his face through an open car window. Only after tensions stared to flare between both sides due to the lack of a PD response, did Police show up; arresting two Hasidim while totally ignoring the perps who turn out to be the
Child and grandchild from someone working for the Mayor in Village Hall.
During the Friday Event, a person from the East Ramapo Central School District got word right after the attack that the 12 year old boy actually went onto a bus to go to his school for some test. The official followed the bus to the school and within hours the school head said the twelve year old admitted to committing this violent act. As far my information goes, the kid was arrested Saturday afternoon.
While a personally think the Spring Valley Police Department does an effective job overall certainly in terms of fighting gun and drug violence in the area, their officers and leadership need to learn – or be forced by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division – how to handle these case more objectively.
UPDATE Sunday 2:05 AM: Sources claim PD actually wanted to arrest a bus driver on the grounds that he intentionally blocked in a car believing the perp is in it while waiting for the cops to show up, and this was the reason why UTA went to PDHQ. But 1) it was chaos among the drivers who all left school at the same time so I am not sure the “blocking in” was on purpose. You just had too many buses jammed at a crime scene. 2) If PD would have handled timely and professionally this call and other similar calls, no one on scene would have felt a need to “block” a vehicle from leaving. 3) When you have a case where someone threw rock double the size of the skull it fractured, your job as PD should be to track down the perp asap. Not to be busy arresting someone who out of frustration may have blocked someone’s car from leaving the scene.
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